I tried reading this one but I realized this book is not a good fit for me. I will not be giving a review on social media or GoodReads as I do not want it to negatively affect the author.

Fifteen years ago a group of young people shared a terrible secret in the woods which are said to be haunted by the birds. The town legend says,
- if you go down to the woods tonight
You better go in disguise
If you go down to the woods tonight
Beware of a big surprise.
For every fowl that ever there was is gathered there tonight
Because
Tonight's the night
The Night Birds make their mischief.-
What follows is a night of murder, unburied secrets, betrayal and a fire. No one is what they seem at the Midnight Feast.

💭 My thoughts:

Midnight Feast was a twisty, wild ride of betrayal, dark secrets, and murder. The plot twists kept coming right up until the end which made for a very exciting read. It did give off some guest list vibes mixed with a little Hitchcock The Birds thrown in. The multiple POV and multiple timelines, as well as the journal entries made the story more complex and kept me turning the pages to the very end.

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Multiple POV
Multiple timelines
Betrayal
Murder
Secrets
Town legend
Small town


Thank you to @netgalley and William Morrow for providing me a copy for an honest review

Lucy Foley does her best to mystify me and it works every time! I love how she is very detailed in her thrillers but is still able to kept you invested and guessing u til the very end!

"The Midnight Feast" unfolds on the opulent opening night of The Manor, where luxury meets lurking darkness. Amidst sparkling pools and lavish cocktails, old friends and enemies mingle under the summer sun. But when a fire breaks out and a body is discovered, the idyllic celebration turns sinister. With an ancient forest bristling with secrets and a mystery rooted in a fifteen-year-old secret, the tension escalates. Although I didn't find the subplot involving DI Walker as compelling, the novel's overall intrigue and unexpected twists keep you enthralled until the chilling conclusion.

Reading challenge category - 2024 Flourish and Blotts - Charms - Accio: A book you have to get your hands on (I was wrong).

Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC ebook. Having loved Lucy Foley's books "The Guest List" and "The Hunting Party" I was so excited to get this book as an ARC, but was unfortunately disappointed.

This story revolves around a group of people who at first glance are strangers as guests at a new high-end beach estate called "The Manor." As the story unfolds, we learn that it's more of a reunion and the dinner party (midnight feast) shines a light on the tangle of lies, secrets, old grudges, and hidden agendas.

In her previous works, the cavalcade of characters weren't an issue as I felt like they were well-developed. In this book, I felt that it became a bit confusing to keep people aligned. I think the dual timelines affected this negatively as well.

I did enjoy the intertwining of pagan folklore, but felt that it could have been done better and not so cheesy. Not my favorite of her works, but I will still continue to read any new books she releases for now.

2.5 stars, rounded up.

Bestselling British thriller author Lucy Foley is back at it again with her recently published The Midnight Feast (available, literally, wherever books are sold).

You might know Foley from her last book The Paris Apartment or her previous locked room-esque entries, The Guest List and The Wedding Party. Her latest novel brings us once again to a location that feels a bit remote, even if not technically so. It's all about an exclusive seaside resort that's got the townies in a lather and a target on the back of the very Goop-y proprietor. But the owner of this resort has some serious skeletons in her closet and there's more than one person out for revenge. The story is told in many points of view and multiple timelines where we start with finding an unidentified body and spend the novel trying to figure out who got killed and whether the killer will get away with it.

Even though I've read all of Foley's books, I'm not her hugest fan. And, yet, I keep reading them, which has to tell you something about her writing. She truly is a capable writer and I think her biggest skill is instilling a sense of dread in the reader. I felt that sense of foreboding from the very first page all the way until I was about 70% through and the pacing picked up so much that I was almost entirely focused on the action and whether my predictions would come true. While it took me at least a third to really get into the book (newer authors rarely get that kind of leeway), it paid off. Once I was halfway in, I just kept on reading right on through to the end. So, that's another superpower she has.

I disliked some elements of the novel, however. Turning a happy children's song into something that was meant to be creepy just really didn't work for me. It wasn't scary, and seemed a bit odd. No spoilers here but elements of the final resolution felt anticlimactic and almost like a betrayal of the tension that had been built in the many preceding pages. And there were, in my opinion, too many points of view with some POV characters left a bit undeveloped.

If you liked Foley's prior novels, you know what you're in for and I think you'll be a fan of this one. If you didn't like the other ones, then why are you like me and keep reading them? And if you've never read one of Foley's books, but you are a fan of Ruth Ware (especially, One by One), I say give The Midnight Feast a try and then let me know what you thought of it.

I will read whatever Lucy Foley writes, because I always find her stories so clever and I can't see where things are going or how they will come together (usually). This one, I saw it coming a mile away - and for me that's really saying something. I loved the setting - I could really imagine exactly what The Manor looked like and its clientele, and I loved getting wrapped up in that environment. But the flip-flopping between perspectives, which I usually don't mind at all (and generally enjoy), really started to grate on me by the middle of the book because nothing was actually happening despite all of the effort to manufacture some progression. It was really frustrating!

Overall - for me, I'd put this in the bottom half of Lucy Foley's books. Kind of disappointed since I'd heard wonderful things about this one, and it was a fun, enjoyable, fluffy read, but I was hoping for something a little more detailed and meaty to sink into.

I had never read Lucy Foley before and I am newer to the thriller genre. For some reason I was unable to get into this story. It seemed superficial. I do not post negative reviews on my social media or GoodReads as I do not think it is fair to the author. Additionally, if I do not finish a book I do not think its fair to rate below a 3, for this reason I am providing a 3 rating for this book, as I am sure with the right audience, this would be an entertaining and enjoyable read.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and William Morrow for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Midnight Feast is a multiple POV, multiple timeline thriller revolving around a group of people from a remote seaside English village. The opening of 'The Manor' a chic, expensive wellness hotel turns out to be the perfect excuse to execute all your revenge plots.

It's almost easier to write reviews when I love or hate a book than it is when it was just meh. At least if I hate it or love it I can pinpoint the reasons why but the root of it was that there were several boring parts of this book. There was also some excitement and some twists, but I think between all the POVs, the absolutely unlikable characters and the timeline bouncing around it's just too difficult to invest in the plot. I spent a lot of the book going 'something please happen already'.

I touched on this previously, but I don't know that I can think of a book that had a POV from a more unlikable character. I almost wish that POV would have been skipped since all she does is gaslight you and you already know she's a horror so it's not like it adds to the appeal of the character. Everything I need to know about that character was found in another character's POV.

My favorite plot twist I actually sensed early on, but it was still enjoyable as I found myself really pulling for a few of the characters in certain ways. There is a touch of having to suspend your disbelief for the plot but most of the time if the mystery is worth it that isn't that difficult for me, but I did find it a little difficult here. All-in-all I stayed for the revenge and was pretty happy with the turn out I just don't think this was Lucy's best work. Sometimes doing less is more.

I had such high hopes for this book. I was intrigued by the synopsis: a manor, the woods, the secrets. I just knew I was going to love it. But sadly, this one didn't work for me. It lacked character development I found the characters to be insufferable. I almost DNF a few times but decided to hang in and finish the story.I didn’t dislike it, but I didn’t love it either. A true 3 stars 🤷🏻‍♀️ I did like the setting!

THE MIDNIGHT FEAST by Lucy Foley

★★★★☆

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the e-arc.

A new hotel- The Manor- is at full capacity for its opening weekend. The resort is high end and no expense has been spared. Everyone is excited for a weekend of activities - including the highly anticipated Midnight Feast. The guest list has been vetted- but not everyone has good intentions. The locals are upset by the construction and looking for confrontation. Some of the guests and staff at the Manor have a past- their lives directly affected by The Manor and its owners. What seems like will be an indulgent weekend turns bad when there's a fire and a body is found floating in the water the next morning.

This book fit right in line with most of Lucy Foley's books! It felt very similar to THE GUEST LIST and THE HUNTING PARTY - all large parties, desitnation/retreat type books with lots of characters. Because of the many POVs, it was a little confusing to keep everyone straight. I did find the plot surprising and there was lots going on. There were so many sinister character with shady pasts and secrets. I wanted to find out their secrets just as much as I wanted to find out who was killed. I wanted more from The Birds - it had such potential to add such creepy vibes to the town's story! Even though I found some areas lacking, I still was super entertained by the story, the party, and the characters. A quick and bingeable book that gets me out of a reading rut is sometimes just what I need!

If you like Lucy Foley's books, this one fits right in!

It’s the opening night of The Manor, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; crystal pouches for guests’ healing have been placed in the Seaside Cottages and Woodland Hutches; the “Manor Mule” cocktail (grapefruit, ginger, vodka, and a dash of CBD oil) is being poured with a heavy hand. Everyone is wearing linen.

But under the burning midsummer sun, darkness stirs. Old friends and enemies circulate among the guests. Just outside the Manor’s immaculately kept grounds, an ancient forest bristles with secrets. And the Sunday morning of opening weekend, the local police are called. Something’s not right with the guests. There’s been a fire. A body’s been discovered.

SO GOOD. I absolutely love Lucy Foley novels and this one did not disappoint. There were so many small reveals along the way and that kept up until the last page. This was such a clever and creative book ... is it weird that it makes me want to go to a remote forest retreat? Thank you so much to netgalley for the advanced copy. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.

Another tried and true win by Lucy Foley! A beautiful unraveling of characters and the ties that bind them. I love how Foley paints the setting of this book, I wish I could go there, breathe it in. I can picture what it feels like so clearly. Couldn’t get enough of this book, found myself sneaking away to take in even five pages at a time.

Holy hell. Herculean effort to get through this. It got good at about 85%. All the bird shit was RIDICULOUS. The birds were an attempt to add an occult vibe but it didn’t deliver. And the journal stuff—so boring and really dragged the story rather than move the plot forward. I did like how the mystery came full circle at the end. Spoiler—I wanted more for Bella and Jake so that was disappointing. Thank you to NetGalley for a digital copy

Thank you to William Morrow for the digital copy to review.

I really enjoyed this one, and Foley is up there as a must read author for me. Give me all the secrets, lies, cover ups, and dysfunction you can whilst in a locked room setting, it always makes for a grand ole time and this one did not disappoint. Foley did a good job with this, turning everyone against each other when a body turns up opening weekend of The Manor, and things slowly start to fall apart. Told in multiple POVs, there are plenty of shenanigans and unlikeable characters to go around, and even a folklore element with birds that when all put together, it made for a very entertaining read and was smartly done throughout.

I enjoyed Lucy Foley's last book quite a bit and was excited about this one but found it a little slow and altogether too unrealistic.

As with her other books, this one has a lot of narrators. I did enjoy Bella's character, and felt for Eddie and Owen.

The chapters are short and with the many narrators the pace of this book is pretty quick. I guessed some of the twists but that didn't take away from the plot.

The sense of place was really well written -- it was so creepy and I could picture the the Manor and all the characters there.

I will continue to read Lucy Foley in the future but this one was not my fave.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

I typically like books by this author but something was a bit off on this book for me. It seemed a bit to out there to be a realistic could happen type thriller

I wasn't the biggest fan of this book. I thought the mystery was predictable and it felt like her other books with a slightly different plot

I know going into Lucy Foley's books that I am not going to know precisely what's happening from the get-go-- and I am totally fine with that! It takes a long time to put all the pieces together, and that is part of the fun in reading her books for me.

In previous books, I've been able to suss out some of the major components fairly early on, but this one kept me in suspense for a long time. I had fun really disliking one of the major players, Fran, and seeing the quaint English village with its corvid vigilantes. Solid read!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC of the Midnight Feast

Lucy Foley writes the type of thriller I can get in to. It’s not always my favorite genre but I have really enjoyed her other books. The plot line in this one was interesting and the multi characters and viewpoints kept me entertained. I did find it a bit slow to start but Lucy knows how to pull you in! Another fun thriller from Lucy Foley!